structure of the commission —
is planned for Sept. 4.
“As this task force considers
the roles, responsibilities and
authorities of the commission,
the staff will be there for
finance, policing, legal — all
there to provide some guidance
and structure to the discussion
to make sure that what the task
force recommends are legal and
sustainable and emulate best
practices,” Lazarus said.
Based on the amendments
made to the resolution Monday,
councilmembers
said
they
were committed to recruiting
representative residents of the
Ann Arbor community. TJW
hopes these task force members
will draw from a variety of
minority groups most impacted
by
unchecked
policing
and
ideally include social work and
mental health professionals.
“(City Council) did make a
commitment to representation,
so we want to hold them to that
commitment,” Quiroz said in
an interview. “We’re also really
glad to see the amendment that
really made a commitment to
representation of communities
most
impacted
by
policing
and most understanding of
what’s needed –– that includes
residents
themselves,
Black,
Latino, Trans and that includes
people who are practitioners
of restorative justice, social
workers and others who can
bring a deep understanding of
issues to the task force.”
However,
Human
Rights
Commission member Dwight
Wilson
raised
concerns
about convincing members of
minority groups to join the
task force. Based on his past
interviews
with
minority
residents for other positions,
some citizens are apprehensive
about being in the public eye
and risking their careers and
livelihoods.
“I’ve interviewed hundreds
of people and consistently those
of color, especially Black men,
they have said to me that they
don’t want to be out front and
they don’t want to be targeted,”
Wilson said. “There’s such a
lack of trust that they don’t
even want their name on a list
and it’s sad.”
Though the HRC primarily
deals with concerns of social
justice and diversity in the
community,
the
amendment
to give the commission the
power to elect or confirm
task force members was not
passed.
Instead,
HRC
will
review the pool of applicants
and recommend 11 selected
residents to the City Council.
Councilmember
Jack
Eaton,
D-Ward
4,
said
he
was
unsatisfied with this decision,
since it could jeopardize the
representative nature of the
task force.
“I’m a little disappointed
because I think the attempt
to include the HRC in a more
powerful position was meant
to ensure that our desire for
a broad cross section of the
community was accomplished,”
Eaton
said.
“While
I’m
disappointed, I believe we are
still going to end up with a
fairly good task force because
elected officials know they
are answering to this broad
community.”
Once
HRC
brings
the
recommendations
to
the
council,
Mayor
Christopher
Taylor will appoint who will
sit on the task force. Wilson
raised concerns about placing
this deciding power in the
hands of the mayor and limiting
the power of the HRC, whose
members are also selected by
the mayor.
“The makeup (of the HRC)
would be much different if the
mayor did not hold that power
in the city charter, and there’s
no doubt that who he approves
is not who I’d approve,” Wilson
said. “I’m going to give him the
benefit of the doubt because
I’ve met with him on several
occasions and it seems to me
that he wants to do the right
thing.”
The task force’s primary
responsibility
will
be
to
write a charter outlining the
structure and guidelines for
the final commission. Eaton
emphasized the need for proper
demographic
data-collection
abilities
to
make
informed
decisions once the resulting
board is formed.
“I hope that the commission
will also look at policies and
practices and training. I am
very hopeful that they will
look at demographics,” Eaton
said. “Who is it that’s getting
pulled over in traffic stops?
There’s a lot discretion that an
officer exercises when they’re
enforcing the law and we want
to make sure it’s not focusing on
people for gender or race.”
Quiroz
highlighted
the
commission’s role in enforcing
preventative measures, such as
ensuring proper police training.
“We need to understand does
Ann Arbor have a commitment
to de-escalation training and
what does that look like?”
Quiroz said. “Police officers
can be trained to come into
a situation and either throw
someone to the ground or
they can be trained in ways
to deescalate and diffuse the
situation. And we don’t really
know what that training looks
like… Whether you think a
police officer is a good person or
a bad person isn’t the issue. It’s
about having a system of checks
and balances that is preventive
and builds community strength
not starting with police.”
Some
say,
however,
the
realm
of
what
police
can
legally do still leaves room for
misconduct.
Councilmember
Chuck Warpehoski, D-Ward 5,
emphasized the need to broaden
the scope of these policies and
training measures through a
restorative justice approach.
“The broader question of
was there harm, how can that
be repaired, are there policies
or training changes we need to
make to prevent similar harm in
the future?” Warpehoski asked.
“Those are the kind of questions
that open up a more expansive
approach to reviewing police
activities and more along the
lines that a restorative justice
approach would take toward
these interactions.”
Though
city
staff
and
community members agreed
on the general policy and
training review functions of
the commission, both groups
were split on what level of
investigative power should be
granted to the commission.
At
Monday’s
City
Council
meeting, the council did not
pass the amendment allowing
for the commission to access
confidential
information
for
their
police
investigations.
Originally, only public data
was
to
be
made
available
for
investigative
purposes;
however, city and community
members
proposed
the
commission needed all relevant
information to make informed
reviews of complaints against
police.
The task force will now
take
on
the
discussion
of
investigative
power
and
propose their recommendations
to the City Council in their
charter.
Eaton
said
he
was
disappointed with this decision,
and felt it will take a toll on how
the task force tackles the issue
and responds to the council.
“If you count the votes on
council, which is the group
that will eventually approve
or disapprove of what this
task force recommends, you
can see there is division on
that particular issue and that’s
unfortunate because this task
force is going to know that
we disagree with how much
authority a commission should
have in investigating police
complaints,” Eaton said. “It
was a compromise and there’s
still a lot of potential there but
we sent a bad message to the
task force that there isn’t broad
support for real independence.”
Wilson
highlighted
the
consequences of a commission
lacking
investigative
power,
such
as
being
under
the
control of internal affairs and
subsequently, the police.
“It
saddens
me
because
if the community cannot do
investigation, then that means
we will be at the mercy of
internal affairs,” Wilson said.
“Among the hundreds of people
that I interviewed were police
detectives and policemen on the
street and each one of them told
me you cannot trust internal
affairs because internal affairs
is being paid by the police and
therefore
is
not
effectively
objective, so we need some type
of objectivity.”
According to Warpehoski,
the council aims to provide
the
commission
with
the
utmost level of information
possible without jeopardizing
confidentiality and violating
privacy laws.
“Whatever extent we can
find a way to provide them
with a high level of access
to information, I think we
should,” he said. “We don’t
want to violate state or federal
laws that prevent disclosure
of information about minors
or other people protected. We
want to make sure that people
who raise concerns, we can
protect their privacy.”
With
issues
surrounding
confidentiality, Eaton is sure
the commission can be trusted
with classified information, just
like city staff is. Without this
information, Eaton emphasized
the commission will not be able
to grasp the full situation and
make an informed decision.
“We
trust
our
staff
to
maintain confidences, and we
trust our council members to
maintain confidences, and to
believe that we cannot trust
a
commission
member
to
maintain confidences is kind
of insulting to our residents,”
Eaton said.
Wilson suggested at least
one member of the commission
should have access to any
necessary
confidential
information.
“It may be what we need is a
single person who is the director
that at least will have access to
everything, and she or he will
need to have confidentiality
—
somebody
needs
to
see
everything,” Wilson said. “If
not, then there’s no trust.”
Despite
disagreements,
Lazarus
underscored
the
council’s overall support of
moving the process forward
to create a task force and
subsequent commission.
“I think the fact that they
took time to go word for word
through the resolution and
amendment
shows
they’re
committed to this,” Lazarus
said. “They didn’t agree on
everything, but in the end
they voted unanimously as a
show of support and I think
the
resolution
provides
a
good structure for us to move
forward.”
City staff and community
members
are
continuing
to work together to find a
balance between each party’s
requests for the task force and
commission.
“We
got
to
this
point
because of the good work of
the community in insisting on
a good process and I trust that
we will get to that end product
with that same influence from
activists in the community,”
Eaton said.
Though
the
commission
serves to review the police,
members of the council assure
their support and appreciation
of the police and hope for
further improvement.
“This process doesn’t mean
that we’re going to find that
our police are doing everything
wrong, it’s just going to give us
enough information so that we
can make improvements. We
have a really excellent police
department,” Eaton said. “I
believe if we are doing proactive
policing rather than reactive
policing, that the officer has
the ability to develop those
personal
relationships
with
the community that they don’t
have time to do when they’re
running from one call to the
next.”
Overall, Lazarus highlighted
the city staff and community’s
aim to meet the same end goal —
a functioning commission that
will keep the police in check
and build more trust within the
Ann Arbor community.
“I remain excited about the
path forward … it has been
a challenge in many ways. I
think the staff and I have kept
true faith and allegiance with
the community as we’ve gone
through developing a scope of
work and receiving a report
from the outside consultant and
translating that into action,”
Lazarus said. “I think we
all need to take a breath and
appreciate the magnitude of
what we’re doing and jump into
it enthusiastically.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Thursday, February 8, 2018 — 3
INSIDE CLIM ATE NEWS
Neela Banerjee, Inside Climate News reporter, speaks about her Pulitzer-nominated investigation into Exxon’s early climate research at South
Hall Wednesday.
RUCHITA IYER/Daily
variable per person and needs
are always changing.”
In an interview, Holloway
explained his desire to present
on this topic, saying as a trans
man, he feels his experience
regarding the topic he presented
on catered to a more inclusive
discussion.
“It’s very personal for me
because I am a trans person,”
Holloway said. “I want to spread
information that I feel is from a
very trans-perspective. I would
rather a trans person present
on trans topics than a cisgender
person.”
According to the Merriam-
Webster dictionary, cisgender
is defined as someone who
identifies with the gender with
which they were born.
Later in the presentation,
Holloway
explained
the
three C’s of communication:
consent, communication and
creativity. He emphasized that
communication between sexual
partners is important in order to
have a worthwhile experience.
“Communication
is
key,”
Holloway
said.
“Sex
looks
different for every single person
that you are going to come
across. Your definition of sex
may differ from my definition
of sex ... consent is mandatory.”
The
presentation
also
included
statistics
gathered
from the 2015 U.S. Transgender
Survey.
According
to
the
survey, 33 percent of trans
people who saw a health care
provider
stated
they
had
negative experiences regarding
their health, 24 percent had to
teach their medical provider
about their health as a trans
individual and 23 percent did
not consult a doctor at all for
fear of mistreatment because of
their identity.
UHS Mental Health Care
Manager
Diana
Parrish
announced UHS is also working
to provide more services catered
toward
transgender-related
health care, such as prescribing
hormone treatments. Currently,
those who wish to receive
treatments have to go to outside
providers.
“We are working on having
in-house providers who can
initiate hormones which would
be a major way of access for
healthcare,” Parrish said.
LSA
junior
Kymberley
Leggett said she found the
event
worthwhile
because
she specifically learned about
issues regarding the transition
process.
“One of the biggest things I
learned about was the different
things that happen in transition
for trans folks,” Leggett said. “I
had a trans friend in high school
and didn’t realize all that he
was going through.”
SEXPERTISE
From Page 1
AAPD
From Page 1
Republican Party.
“It’s a good thing he wants to
increase (K-12 funding), but a lot
of the devil is in the details on how
he gets there,” Cox said.
In
terms
of
road
and
infrastructure
improvements,
the
budget
recommendation
proposes $175 million to repair
state roads and a continued $150
million in income tax revenue
for use in road maintenance. In
addition, Snyder plans to increase
landfill fees to remedy toxic waste
sites and to implement an annual
$5 water fee for infrastructure
repairs, as well as $25 million
to continue to alleviate the Flint
water crisis.
While
presenting
the
recommendation,
protesters
from
Service
Employees
International
Union
chanted
outside of the open meeting,
calling
upon
legislators
to
implement
fair
wages
and
improved conditions for working
people in reaction to Snyders
proposedprivatization of prison
food service.
In a press release, Snyder
explained the proposed budget
would allow the state of Michigan
to continue seeing the policies
and investments implemented
throughout his term in office.
“By continuing our relentless
support of areas like education,
safety and transportation, we
maximize the impact of the
strategic initiatives we have
implemented over the years,”
Snyder
said.
“We
need
to
ensure that the important work
happening here in Michigan
keeps accelerating.”
Other
funding
measures
include monies directed toward
Michigan State Police troopers,
the Department of Corrections,
Department
of
Natural
Resources, the Sexual Assault
and Prevention and Education
Initiative, and investment in
technology such as broadband
access for rural areas.
SNYDER
From Page 1
courses campuswide are taught
by LSA lecturers.
SG members questioned the
source of the money for a salary
raise and whether it would
come from a rise in tuition
or University reserves. LSA
sophomore
Brooke
Lennox
spoke on the conversations
she has had with her Russian
professor regarding the issue
and claims that University
regents
have
the
funding
for raises. Lennox believes
the issue is instead about
convincing regents to allocate
their resources toward these
raises.
“I am in huge support of
this,” Lennox said.
LSA
SG
members
also
introduced
an
amendment
to
previous
election
rules,
focusing on their discussion
during
the
election
and
clarifying the language of the
law. The goal of the resolution
is
to
streamline
internal
elections by fostering debate
from all candidates at the start
rather than having to repeat
elections, as has been done in
years past. LSA SG members
also
encouraged
using
comprehensive
language
to
reduce confusion for members
in the future.
Members
then
discussed
an amendment to reform the
Communications Committee’s
ThisSucks@umich.edu,
proposing
to
replace
the
“ThisSucks” account with a
more
centralized
complaint
form on their website. The
sponsors of this resolution
explained that this web page,
Campus
Complaints,
would
increase
accessibility
to
constituents and amplify their
voiced concerns.
LSA SG also addressed their
internal climate, presenting an
amendment about gendered
language within their bylaws.
The body passed a similar
resolution in 2016, but is
working to strengthen their
bylaws to enforce the abolition
of gendered language within
their documents and meetings.
Admitting
that
it
is
difficult to enforce the use of
gender-inclusive
language,
the
sponsors
urged
the
responsibility of every member
to be inclusive. Members
agreed the purpose of this
resolution
is
to
advocate
for inclusive language and
to encourage people to be
educated on the issue.
LSA SG members attested
to the effectiveness of such a
resolution, despite the inability
to be measured metrically,
claiming that they have seen
change
since
the
original
resolution in 2016. Their
bylaws no longer include “he,”
“him,” or other gender-specific
pronouns, while other student
governments’ bylaws allegedly
still do.
External Relations Officer
Lorraine
Furtado
said
the
committee will continue to
fight
for
gender-inclusive
language.
“We’ll be here for you to
help
advocate
for
gender
inclusiveness,” she said.
LSA SG
From Page 1
I want to spread
information that I
feel is from a very
trans-perspective